Brassiere



July 23, 1968 R. c. COLE 3,393,682

BRASS IERE Filed NOV. 15, 1965 IN VENTDR Raymond C. Cole W 4% ATT EVUnied, ws. e

3,393,682 BRASSIERE Raymond C. Cole, Hillsdale, N.J-., assignor toInternational Playtex Corporation, Dover, Del., a corporation ofDelaware Filed Nov. 15, 1965, Ser. No. 507,723 Claims. (Cl. 128-490)This invention is a brassiere designed and constructed to expand withthe chest when the wearer breathes and moves about and yet preventexcessive pressures against the body.

Basically, a brassiere must adequately support and shape thebreasts andyet be comfortable. It is the comfort feature that is most difiicult' toachieve in designing and constructing a brassiere.

It is most difiicult to achieve comfort by virtue of the commonfact'that a womans chest is constantly expanding and contracting as shebreathes, movesher arms and indulges inother body motions. Each changeinchest size andshape requires an accommodating change in brassiere sizeand shape particularly with respect to the size and shape of the breastcups. The more nearly perfect the brassiere accommodates to changes insize and shape of the chest, the more comfortable the brassiere.

Standardization of cup sizes also presents difliculty to the brassieredesigner in that'the brassiere must properly supportand shape breastsizes that are between standard cup sizes. Although half-size cups wouldresolve this problem-in the most part, it is'n-ot a practical solution.The optimuni of brassiere design is achieved when the brassiere iscapable of properly supporting and shaping breast sizes that are'lessthan or more than standard cup sizes, yet provide the'required comfortcharacteristics.

The prior art has solved in most respects some of the more commonbrassiere disadvantages, such as upward creeping of the brassiere,roll-over of the underbust bands, shoulder strap adjustability,girthwise adjustability, underbust distribution of pressures andindependent support of each breast. One undesirable aspect that has yetto be resolved is first the 'discomfort'due to excessive pressuresagainst the pectoral muscles of the wearer that is caused 'by theunderarm portion of the brassiere, and second the discomfort caused byimproper fitting of the breast cups.

A brassiere constructed in accordance with my invention surprisinglyaccommodates to eachchange in chest size and shape as the wearerbreathes and moves about, thus uniquely alleviating excessive pressuresagainst the pectoral muscles and breasts of the wearer, yet adequatelysupports and shapes the breasts and properly fits the wearer.

According to my invention, a brassiere is provided with a pair ofstretchable cups and a pair of stretchable tapes respectively secured tothe outer edges of the cups. Preferably, the upper half of each cup isstretchable in a direction substantially parallel to the direction ofstretch of the corresponding stretchable tape, while the lower half ofeach cup is stretchable in a direction substantially verticalv withrespect to the brassiere when on the wearer.

It is an object of this invention to design a brassiere which eliminatesexcessive pressures against the pectoral muscles of the wearer yetadvantageously provides proper support and necessary comfort. 1

It is another object ofthis invention ,to design a brassiere capable ofproperly supporting and shaping-breast sizes that are between standardcup sizes, yet provide the required comfort.

Proceeding n0w.t0 a more detailed description of the invention,reference will be, had to the accompanying drawings which are to beunderstood as being illustrative and, not limitative of the invention. 7

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of my brassiere as seen on the wearer, andl 1 FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic front elevation of the brassiere ofFIGURE 1 with a series ofarrows to illustrate the direction of stretchofportions of the brassiere.

It is to be understood that my brassiere may have any known suitabledorsal band arrangement and shoulder strap construction; these are notthe subject of my invention, and as they are conventional they aremerely indicated here. 1

Referring to the drawings, my brassiere has cups 10 and 20 of a conicalto hemispherical shape, each cup having an upper half 11 and 21, a lowerhalf 12 and 22, and a generally horizontal mid-seam 13 and 23. Themembers making up the cups are, as is usual, cut with convex edges thatare pulled to each other, overlapped, and sewn together to form themid-seam, thus providing outwardly peaked cups.

Extending from the top of the cups 10 and 20 and along the upper-inneredges thereof are narrow tapes 30 and 40. These tapes cross each otherat midpoint 50 and extend along the lower-inner edges of the cups.

Tape 30 comprises an upper branch 31, which is secured to theupper-inner edge of upper cup portion 11, and a lower branch 32, whichis secured to the lower-inner edge of lower portion 22. Tape 40comprises an upper branch 41, which is secured to the upper-inner edgeof upper cup portion 21, and a lower branch 42, which is secured to thelower-inner edge of lower cup portion 12. These tapes are preferablysecured to each other at the crossing or midpoint 50.

Tapes 30 and 40 are preferably secured to the upperinner edges of thecups by a double line, continuous run of stitching, and in the exemplaryembodiment shown are non-stretchable or'inelastic. It is contemplatedhowever that tapes 30 and 40 may be stretchable or elastic andconstructed as described in co-pending application, S.N. 434,292, filedFeb. 23, 1965, now Patent 3,222,127 in the name of Charles M. Sachs,which application is assigned to the assignee of this invention.

Although tapes 30 and 40 are inherently straight, the

lower branches 32 and 42 are slightly bent inwardly when sewn to theshaped cups, thus resulting in the lower branches 32 and 42 being lessdivergent than the upper branches 31 and 41. This relationship tends tobe confirmed and enhanced when the brassiere is on the body.

At the lower-center area of the brassier is a triangular piece oftwo-way stretch elastic fabric 60, which is also sewn to the lowerbranches 32 and 42 of tapes 30 and 40 and t o the lower-inner edges ofthe cups 10 and 20.

Across the front of the brassiere and under the cups 10 and 20 extendsan underbust band 70, which is preferably stretchable in the girthwisedirection. This band may be made of elastic material.

In the central region of the underbust band 70, girthwise stretchabilityis preserved by virtue of the fact that it is sewn to the lower edge ofthe triangular fabric 60, which 3 is stretchable, and by utilizingzig-zag stitching. Girthwise stretchability at the outer regions of theunderbust band 70 is restrained since it is sewn to the lower edges ofthe cups which are virtually non-stretchable in the girthwise direction.It is preferable however to preserve a slight amount of girthwisestretchability at the outer regions of the underbust band. This may beachieved by slightly extending the band as it is sewnwith zig-zagstitchingto the cups, thus resulting in a finished product which isslightly gathered along the sewn edge. The underbust band is thuscapable of a small degree of girthwise stretch.

Underbust band 70 is preferably two or three times more resistive tostretch than a like width of the twoway stretch fabric 60. The top edgeof the underbust band 70 overlapsand is sewn tothe lower edges of cupsand '20, the lower ends of tapes 30 and 40, and the lower edge oftriangular piece 60.

Extending from the top of cups 10 and and along the upper-outer edgesthereof are narrow stretchable tapes 80 and 90. These tapes arepreferably secured to the upper inner edges of cups 10 and 20 by adouble line, continuous run of stitching and in the exemplary embodimentare elastic. It is contemplated that tapes 80 and 90 may also beconstructed as described in the above mentioned copending application.

Crossed tapes and have their upper ends secured to corresponding upperends of the stretchable tapes 80 and 90 so as to form upper loops whichrespectively extend through the lower loop of the conventional shoulderstrap buckles 81 and 91. It is to be understood however that other wellknown constructions may be utilized to connect the upper ends of thetapes 30, 40 and 80, 90 to conventional shoulder straps or shoulderstrap buckles.

In the embodiment shown, the underbust band 70 is coterminous with theouter edges of cups 10 and 20 and stretchable tapes 80 and 90, and allare secured to the dorsal band members 100 and 110 of any desirednature. When the underbust band is assembled into the composite frontpanel, it is curved in a downwardly concave arc. Desirably, the loweredges of the dorsal bands 100 and 110-when the brassiere is laid outflat-continue this same downwardly concave are so that the dorsal bandswill substantially lie straight across the wearers back when thebrassier is on the body.

The directions of stretch of certain elements of my brassiere areillustrated in FIGURE 2 by corresponding arrows. Stretch arrows A and Billustrate the stretch direction of the stretchable tapes 80 and 90,which stretch directions are substantially parallel to the stretcharrows C and D, the direction of stretch of upper cup portions 11 and21. This construction of stretchcability uniquely permits theouter-upper portion of the brassier to stretch or expand as well aspermitting the entire upper halves of the cups to stretch or expand.Although maximum stretch is provided in the direction as illustrated bythe stretch arrows A, B and C, D, lesser amounts of stretch are providedat angles up to 90 degrees displaced therefrom, whereupon the amount ofstretch is minimum. Stretch arrows E and F illustrate the maximumdirection of stretch of the lower cup portions 12 and 22, to wit, in thevertical direction.

The stretch characteristics of cups 10 and 20 and tapes 80 and 90advantageously permit the brassiere to expand upwardly and outwardlywhich most nearly accommodates to and follows the natural expansion ofthe chest and pectoral muscles when the wearer breathes and moves about.This feature adequately relieves the plaguing problem of excessivepressures against the wearers breast and pectoral muscles.

Stretch arrows G and H respectively illustrate the maximum stretchdirections of the triangular fabric and the underbust band 70. Two-waystretchability of the triangular fabric 60 further assists the brassierein accommodating and following the natural expansion and contraction ofthe wearers chest, particularly with respect to body movements on oneside and not the other that commonly occur when the wearer reaches outor up with one arm and not the other. Of course, the combined action ofthe two-way stretchable triangular fabric 60 and the underbust band 70greatly reduce creepingup of the brassiere as disclosed in the abovementioned co-pending application.

Underbust band 70 also allows the brassiere to accommodate and followgirthwise movements of the wearers chest in the area below the breasts.

Since the cups, stretchable tapes, triangular fabric and underbust bandaccommodate to and follow the natural expansion of the chest, yet simplyabut the body, excessive pressures against the breasts and pectoralmuscles of the wearer are virtually eliminated, thus providing a highlysatisfactory combination of breast support and comfort.

While I have illustrated the presently preferred embodiment of myinvention, it will be understood that its teachings, in whole or inpart, can be incorporated in many variations.

What is claimed is:

1. A brassiere comprising a pair of stretchable cups, and a pair ofstretchable tapes respectively secured to the outer edges of the topportion of said cups that extends downwardly and outwardly from the apexof each cup, each of said cups having a stretchable upper portion inwhich the direction of stretch is substantially parallel to thedirection of stretch of its respective stretchable tape, and astretchable lower portion in which the direction of stretch issubstantially vertical.

2. A brassiere according to claim 1 and further including an underbustband secured to the lower edges of said cups.

3. A brassiere according to claim 2 in which said underbust band hasrelatively restrained stretch in the regions which are secured to saidcups and relatively free stretch in the remaining regions.

4. A brassiere according to claim 1 and further including a pair ofcrossed tapes respectively secured to the inner edges of said cups, saidcrossed tapes having one end secured to said underbust band and theother end secured to its respective stretchable tape.

5. A brassiere according to claim 4 in which said crossed tapes aresecured to each other at their crossing point.

6. A brassiere according to claim 4 in which said crossed tapes areangled at their crossing point so as to diverge less therebelow thanthereabove.

7. A brassiere according to claim 4 in which said crossed tapes arenon-stretchable.

8. A brassiere according to claim 4 in which said stretchable tapes,stretchable cups and underbust band are elastic.

9. A brassiere according to claim 4 and further including a triangularpiece of stretchable fabric secured to corresponding inner edges of thelower branches of said crossed tapes and to the upper edge of saidunderbust band.

10. A brassiere according to claim 9 in which said triangular fabric hasboth vertical and horizontal stretch.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,909,273 5/1933 Hennessy 1284432,651,040 9/1953 Block 128-489 X 2,864,374 12/1958 Verreault 128-4833,186,412 6/1965 Kurland 128483 3,263,685 8/1966 Bernfeld 128-489FOREIGN PATENTS 533,728 12/1954 Belgium.

ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner.

